John Doyle: Hill was a big presence at a small school

Monday

Feb 18, 2013 at 3:15 AM

Of all of Rachel Hill’s accomplishments, the one that stands out most might be this: She proved that an athlete from a small school with a previously unheralded soccer program could earn a full-ride scholarship to a big-time Division I university.

Hill, who finished her career with a state-record 151 goals for the Somersworth High School girls soccer team, recently signed on to take her game to the University of Connecticut.

Hill played her entire high-school career for the Division III Hilltoppers, eschewing the glamour of a private school (according to her father, Mike Hill, Rachel was heavily pursued by Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro) and the temptation to ditch her high-school team in favor of playing full-time at a training academy.

“I’m glad I took the path that I did,” Hill said. “I’m glad my parents kept me in Somersworth. I had a great experience. It was the same as any other school would be. That’s good for our school and our community.”

She also chose to continue playing other sports for the Hilltoppers, including basketball and track (she recently scored her 1,000th career point in basketball), in an age when growing number of athletes dedicate themselves to a single sport in pursuit of a scholarship.

Rachel’s father, Mike Hill, founded the ROSO (Rollinsford-Somersworth) youth soccer program, which was where Rachel first plied her trade.

Her involvement with local soccer at all levels, including playing for the prestigious Seacoast United Soccer Club, makes Rachel’s ascension to D-I college soccer a source of pride for the entire community, said Hilltopper coach Nick O’Brien.

“The programs that have developed through ROSO and everywhere else, that’s really what it’s all about,” O’Brien said. “As a community, they’ve helped produce a strong program, and Rachel’s success. It’s a really great thing for the whole community.”

Though she will have to keep her grades up (a condition for any high school student who has been accepted to college), Hill said she is looking forward to enjoying the rest of her high-school experience, which includes the D-III basketball tournament opener on Thursday night.

“I applied pretty early just to get it out of the way,” Hill said. “I wasn’t too worried, but the official application went through and it was fine, so that was a relief.”

Hill said she also considered James Madison, Penn, Penn State, Virginia and a pair of schools in Florida. She hasn’t decided on a major yet, but chose UConn because it was the perfect distance from home and provided a welcoming environment on campus.

“I didn’t want to go too far, and I didn’t want to go too close,” she said. “Distance was a big factor. I loved the campus, the big atmosphere, and I know they have a lot of choices for majors. That’s good for me because I don’t really know what I want to study.”

Despite the nice weather and the opportunity to practice soccer outdoors year round, Florida was ruled out as a possibility as soon as she made a tour of campuses down there.

“I went to visit the University of Tampa, and I forget the other one, but I hated it,” Hill said. “I don’t even remember, I just hated it.”

Hill and her older brother Zach have also saved their parents a good deal of money. Zach, also a standout soccer player for the Hilltoppers who graduated in 2012, is currently a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy.

“It’s very good,” Mike Hill said with a smile. “As long as they finish.”

All joking aside, Mike Hill said he and his wife, Cynthia, are extremely proud of Rachel’s success.

“We’re really thankful for all the coaches that have helped her along the way,” Mike Hill said. “She’s been given a lot of great opportunities. She’s had good coverage from newspapers and radio. The whole community has helped her succeed. She’s worked really hard and it’s nice to see it pay off.”

John Doyle is a staff sports writer and editor at Foster’s Daily Democrat. Reach him at jdoyle@fosters.com and follow him on Twitter @JohnDoyle603.